Word Craft

Dog’s Life

I admit it’s been rather quiet around here, so I figured I’d drop by with a cute little piece I whipped up. Hopefully, the queue will be filled up again as soon as I can get the stories out of my notebook and into the computer!

              “Come on, come on, the water will be nice and cool.”  Jesse ran ahead of the others, spotting the stream edge through the trees.

Arrow raced ahead and cut…

DL Hammon’s WRiTECLUB Starts Today

Happy Monday!  I discovered that the wonder that is technology ate my last #flashfictionfriday post – so while I recreate my post from the archives that is my writing folder on my laptop, I wanted to share a writing project that will keep many writers on the edge of their seat for the next several weeks:

The annual #WRiTECLUBDFW challenge pits 30 anonymous writing samples against each other. …

Sometimes, a writing exercise still turns into a nice vignette.  This #flashfictionfriday was inspired by an exercise to describe the same scene over displayed through different emotions from a particular list.  In the writing group, the other participants had to guess which scenario you were describing.  I think this one speaks for itself.

              Sunlight streams in and bounces off the…

Sometimes, #flashfictionfriday takes us into the world of art as well as writing.

            Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

Jimmy wrote the phrase again, careful to watch the loop on his “y” and the dots on the “i”. It was already the fifth or sixth time he’d written it, but the handwriting teacher hadn’t even come near him to see how…

I had a lot of fun writing this #flashfictionfriday piece and how we can learn life lessons just about anywhere from anyone.  Or anything.

              Brr.It’s always cold in here. I’m sure I can’t feel my extremities anymore. But I know I must keep growing. My only hope is that one day they will find enough warmth to bring my numbed leaves back to life. I focus on the bright light that I can…

#Flashfictionfriday is a chance to explore – writing is a journey of discovery, and, just like our characters, the discovery is not always what we were expecting!

            “I wouldn’t get too close …” Dan’s voice drifted down from the rocks above as Ben moved closer to the opening created by two boulders leaning against each other. “What if they’re unsteady?” His words echoed grandfather’s…

Sometimes, #flashfictionfriday is just a chance to do a short slice of life story that’s something we can all relate to.

              The alarm went off, starting with a gentle, steady tone, and quickly accelerating to a frenzied pitch, insisting someone take notice and silence it.

Eventually, one hand keeping the blankets pulled firmly over her head, Nancy hit snooze, groping around on the…

Welcome to another edition of #flashfictionfriday.  Today’s story comes from the type of prompt where you must use a list of completely unrelated words.  It’s an exercise used in other artistic disciplines as well to combine the unexpected.  Presenting:

              The courtroom drama went to commercial break just as the witness broke into tears on the stand. The image of the smug attorney…

“the sky would be safer than the ground”

It’s official!  Runestone, Volume Six was released during the final days of February, so here is a live link to all the work of the undergraduate student contributors and student editors at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The title of Volume Six, “the sky would be safer than the ground” represents the message of hope the editors collected into this volume.  I am honored that my story,…

Today, I join you for #shortstorysunday with more than a fiction tale.  I have a true story of hope and rebuilding.

At approximately 6:45am on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, the Pleasant Valley Fire Department received a call for a smoke alarm at the local Library.  By the time they arrived, it was clear the Pleasant Valley Library was filled with smoke.   Even though the fire, which originated in…

Happy Friday!  We’re heading to the seashore for this #flashfictionfriday with a setting the scene piece I hope you’ll enjoy.

                                                             MORNING STILLNESS

Silence drapes the boats in the early morning fog. It’s peaceful, without the calls of fisherman hauling their catch or their wives bartering for supplies on the wharf. Brightly painted boats…

Well, it’s 2020, and that sounds a bit like we should be living in a sci-fi novel. But, to past generations, we pretty much are the the stuff of Science Fiction! Who’d have dreamed of a computer small enough to fit in your pocket that would also allow you to access the entire World Wide Web?

But, I digress. While I won’t promise any blogging resolutions, I can say I’ve finally gotten some of my…

Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day

I just learned about a new holiday – Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day, or alternatively, Fanfiction Appreciation Day.  It’s actually celebrated on August 21st, but since I just found out about it today, I’m going to do my celebrating now (better late than never, right?)

Fanfiction writing tends to attract a lot of emotion – some love it, enjoying the additional time spent in the world of a book…

Since I missed #flashfictionfriday, I’ll just stop by on #ShortStorySunday to share a story I wrote a while back.

“Are you sure this is the right window?”

The words came out muffled through the ski mask, and it was a breath of fog from his warm breath that first made Eliza realize Bill was talking.

“I’m quite sure.  The blinds were drawn when I left.”

“Everyone’s blinds have been drawn.”

Bill…

August 9th is National Book Lovers Day! As a Friday holiday, it’s a great one to celebrate all weekend long – and I’m starting my celebration with an old #FlashFiction piece written for the prompt: Library Book.

            “It’s a library book.”  Hannah placed the book into JoAnne’s out-stretched hands.  Her fingers felt all along it, running down the spine, tracing the raised lettering of the…

August 4th is National Sister’s Day, to celebrate the special bond that only sisters can share. I wanted to take a moment to share a series that really highlighted that sisterly love by making it the focus point of an entire series:

Book 1 of The Healing Wars Trilogy by Janice Hardy.

Lots of series focus on found families and friendships, but few have really focused on the bonds of existing…